It all began with a simple idea. Franklin School eighth grader Samantha Feliciano asked her teacher, Al Bayley, if there was anything the students could do to help the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy.
"I felt really bad when it happened," Feliciano said. "I knew that there were so many kids like me who lost their parents. So the idea just came to my head to do something as a fundraiser, like a bake sale or something. I then thought if we could get just a penny from each kid in the school, then that would be something."
Bayley was impressed with the idea.
"I thought it was a great idea and so did the other kids," said Bayley, who has been a teacher in the North Bergen Board of Education for the last 39 years. "They all felt as if they were doing something worthwhile to help, so I was all for it."
Feliciano decorated a jug from a water cooler, made it complete with an American flag, and walked around with the jug collecting loose change from any person in the school who wanted to donate to the "Penny a Day Collection."
"I figured we could get a hundred dollars or so," Feliciano said. "I was only hoping to get a few pennies."
However, neither Bayley nor Feliciano could have ever imagined what would happen. The outpouring of affection toward the worthy cause made everyone in the school become a part of the collection efforts.
When the counting was done and the change was all rolled and totaled, the school had raised $1,878.
"When we started counting, I couldn’t believe it," Bayley said. "Everyone in the building was throwing in pennies, nickels, dimes. And they all added up, building up to that final total. It really was amazing."
"I never thought we could get that much," Feliciano said. "I know a lot of kids felt the same way that I did. They all wanted to help."
After the money was collected, Feliciano and her fellow classmates had the dubious task of having to count the money, then having to roll up the countless change to take to the bank.
"When we went to the bank, they sort of looked at us funny," Feliciano said. "Because we had $900 in pennies. It took a long time to count. We did a lot of counting in our lunch periods and after school."
Feliciano said that the collection efforts helped the students deal with the tragedy.
"I think it kind of distracted us," Feliciano said. "I think we all needed to have the good feeling that we were doing something to help. I think a lot of us are still shocked and stunned about what happened. It seems so unreal. I want to believe that the Twin Towers are still there, but I know they’re not."
Added Feliciano, "I know that if I lost my parents or family in a disaster like that, I would want help from others. Well, that’s what we did. We wanted to show people how much we really cared."
Bayley was so impressed with the generosity of the students.
"I don’t think there was a single student who didn’t put some sort of money into that jug," Bayley said. "They were all so generous. They all had total concern for the victims and their families. Everyone was so unselfish."
Added Bayley, "In my 39 years, I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a group of students. It was a unique situation, where Samantha stepped forward and said that we had to do something. It wasn’t anything that an adult said. Samantha wanted to do it and everyone followed right along."
Bayley said that it was especially refreshing to see the effort, because of the ethnic makeup of the school.
"The kids from all backgrounds, all races, religions, and they all worked together," Bayley said. "It was like the United Nations here, with all the different backgrounds, all willing to help out. It really was a great effort."
Feliciano said that she felt a kinship of pride from the students.
"I felt really proud of the school, proud to be in a school where everyone cares," said the 14-year-old fundraiser. "I’m glad that everyone felt the same way that I did. It goes to show you that pennies do add up, because we got a lot of pennies."
More than 90,000 of the copper coins, to be exact.